Mechanical horn.



IN VEN 70H A TTU/MEV Patented July 10, 1917.

3. 9 vuol RM1 Oorw THM C L wf NH .A AHN -Cm F.T GMA w L D P A WTNSSES UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE AcPROCJ'LO'BI,V OF WATERTOl/VN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR 4TO LOVELL- vMGCONNELL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DLAWARE.

MECHANICAL HORN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ju1y`1o, 1917.

Application tiled December 10, 1913. Serial No. 805,681.V

To oltre/tom it may concern:

lle 1t known that 4l, Geenen A. Pnoo'rou, u. citizen oi' the United States, und resldent ol Watertown, in the county of Middlesex und Stute ol" llflnssnchnsel-ts, here invented certuin new und useful Improvements in Me clmnicol Ilorns, of which the following is a, specilicnlion. i l

- 'lhs invention relates to certain improve ments in horns end inorc pnrticulurly te that type of'horu in'whch the sound is crented by vihrntions of n diaphragm and which is `movement of '.t driving member. My in rention Iin eerinin of its principnl embodiments includes :t movable toothed Vdriving member l:uid 'n leveiineinber pivotully supported 1n suche` manner thru: the movement of the teeth post the lever member mpnrts ribretions to the .ln-ttor which vibrations cruise the lvibrations of the diuphrngm. This pivoted Vlever.member lmuy bev designed. inyerous dili'ereut 'ways but prefere-bly it is so designed undv mountedthnt its buch und forth moi'cments :irc ull forced movements rather than lforced.movement followedby resilient return, euch movement in one direction re- `esulting in n corresponding blow on the ,di-.1'.-

phrhgm. The .lever member. nuty be so posrtionedntnd the' frequency und length of i the stroke of theleverinmnbcr be such that 'positive forced vibrations-.tre v'imported to thc'dinphrngln withthe dinphrngm und lcver moving;v in synchronisin, hut 'by n different jn'djustment 'or u slightly dilierentorm'ingof the lever member the blows dehliveredto' the letter muy resemble more nenrly the-blows oiE n tnpper suchns used in tlieordinury bunter horn. in which the moicmeits of the Mmnlurr of un eleetrm mugnet'reslllt in corri-spoiu'liug taips or light blows to the dif\{'il\r nf.;1;n7 but without positlve forced' dlsplncementof the dlniihragm,

`undwithout synchronism with the lutter.

i The. toothed 'member muy be oil n rotolI so as to continuously truvel in the sume direction `while the horn isplwing vsounded and muy be driven by n. spring motor. I prefernbly employ such n'spring as may be wound up und normally held in wound posltion'und rele-used nt will for such n length of time :is muy be desired to sound the signal, und then relocked in its partially .unwound condit1on. 'lhus it n-'o'uld be necessary to wind the spring only at infrequent intervals und the horn will always be in condition for sounding,'by merely pressing the button. Such n construction eliminates such' troubles :is arise from defective wiring, short circuits, and'exhnusted batteries in connection with electric horns. 4

Reference is to be hind to the accompanying dren-ings in which similar 'reference ehnrnctcrs indicate corres lending )n.rts throughout the several vlews; un in \vl1iCl1- i Figure l is :L side elevation of n horn construct-ed in accordance with my invention, n portion of theI geur onse being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is n View of the horn shown in Fig. l but in n plone :it-right :ingles to vthe plane of Figylnnd Fig. '3 is n viewsomewhatsimilur to Fig. 1, und Showing the rotor driven by n. spring motor. l

In the specific form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, I employ e. diepln'ngm 1 0, chunped in place in any suitii'hle manner about its periphery. To thefront dinphrngmclrmp 11,

.is secured :thorn or resonntorw 12,' of any suitable shape or design. yThe diaphragm nnmntng und resomuor 'form no port-ion of` my present' invention. lluroer dinphragm chimp `.i3 euri-ies n rvnr insinf; ll. in which is pirotnlly mouniml n' lever ..-.|u|1er 15 in proper operntive relation to the dntplirugm. (lne und of the lever is so mounted that during ,its normal swings. ii .will strile ril'hcr the dinphrngm ilsell' .nr or u-djncent the center or st'rilre n snitnble wear-piece on the lutter. 'lhe lever member hns two teeth or projectifms -10 nndl'? on the fil-ce :Lwny l'rmn thedinphrngm :ind adopted to engage with the teeth 148 on the periphery of n 0rotor 19.

The lever is so positioned in respect to the y rotor und theI teeth nre of vsuch size and 4sbnpe that the turning-of-Jthe rotor imparts positive bnclt und forth -vibrations to the. lever member.

will be between successive teeth on therotor In other words, when the ltooth 16 is free of the rotorri'he tooth 17A and vice versa. VThe further movement of the rotor from the position shown in Fig. 1 will cause the lower end of the lever to swing outwardly and tap the diaihragm but at the same time the upper en of the lever will swing rearwardly to bring the tooth 16 between two successive rotor teeth 1S. One tooth. 18 can now pass the. tooth 1T und the continued rotation will force the tooth 16 out and the tooth 1T will enter the space. between the next two adjacent teeth 1S of the rotor and the lever will. be swung in the reverse direction. As previously stated these lever swings may forcibly dispiace the center portion of the diaphragm und the return of the diaphragm may aid in the return swing of the lever. member, and the speed and design may be such as to bring the positive swingsof the. lever, which are caused by the movement of the rotor, into synchronism with the natural body swings of the diaphragm when the latter is vibrating in its fairly definite natural time period. On the other hand blows delivered by the. lever 15 may be merely tapping blows which do not forcibly displace the center portion, and may thus correspond more nearly to the taps occurring; .in a. buzzer horn. i b- For causing the series of teeth 18 to pass the teeth 16 and 17 und roclc the lever, various mechanisms may be employed. As

` shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the shaft of the rotor 19 carries n. pinion 20 meshing with a gear wheel 21, and to the shaft of the latter is connected a crank. 22. By turningrl the crank thc rotor 19 may be driven at very high `speed. The specific fdr'in illustrated in Fig. 3 corresponds in many respects with that' shown in Figs. l and 2 except that a spring and a locking mechanism :1re interposed. between the crank and the rotor. In this figure I have shown a rotor 12)l with teeth 18 somewhat sha 'per than the teeth 18 shown in Fig. 1. 'lhe lever member 15 has its teeth 1H and 17 correspopdingriy less sha rp. Within the rem' case 1.4. is a gear wheel 23 mounted on a. shaft 24 but free to rotate. thereon. A heavy coil spring 25 has its outer end attached to the gear wheel adjacent the |wriphery ot the latter and its inner end attached to the shaft. '.ihe gear wheel 23 meshes with a pinion '26 which latter is ric-id with a gear 27. The lutter meshes with a pinion 28 rigid with the rotor lil'hf 'lhe spring'; when wound up by turning the crank may he prevented from unwinding by any suitable form of pawl 33 and ratchet win-ei El-i on the shaft 24e.

A fter the, spi-ine, has been wound up the e l Il!) at its outer end and a shoulder 31 at its inner end. This shoulder may normally engage directly with the teeth of one of the 4 Y l gears, or may engage with'one of a series of projecting ins 32 on the face .of the gear wheel 27. his locking mechanism is normally held in operative position by a suitw.

button may be released.immediately after' being depressed and the horn will continue to sound until the next pin 32 comes against the shoulder 31. The distance between successive pins 32 may be selected in accordance with the desired lengt-h of time for the signal operation after the depression and release of the button. It is evident vthat the shorter the distance between .the pins and the greater the number of them, the shorter will be the signal. As 'for as this spring motor and releasing mechanism is concerned, I might in soin:- cmistrnetion-s omit the lever 15 and use the rotor as a. cam wheel for direct engagement with a. wear-piece on the diaphrn m so as to impart partly forced and partly ree body vibrations of the' 'diaphragm as in the ordinary form of Klaxon horn.

In the forms Shown the intermediate lever member is mounted to either tap the diephragm or to press against the same and positively displce it.

'.Tt is of course evident that the resonators shown may be modified in shape,vsize and relative proportions or may bepractically omitted if desired..

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. An automobile. warningsignn-l, comprising a casing having opposed substantially parallel side walls, a diaphragm closing one end ots-aid casing;n and having its periphery rigidly secured to thcwalls of said casing, a toothed rotor rotatable about annxis parallel .to said diaphragm and. supported between and substantially parallel to vsaid side walls, a rigid lever pivotcd intermediate .of said rotor and said diaphragm and adapted to swing in the plane of said rotor, said lever having one end thereof adapted to effect vibration of said diaphragm and having two spaced projections hpon the face thereof away 'from said diaphraglfm and adapted to engage with said" rotor, whereby said lever is oseillated und said diaphragm is vibruted upon the rotation of .said rotor, a pinion rigid. \v|th said rotor, a gear wheel linger than said rotor meshing 'with said pinion, and means for rotating said gear wheel.

2. A warning signal, comprising a casing,

`a diaphragm closing one end of said casing l and having its periphery rigidly Secured to the Walle thereof, a toothed rotor rotatable about an axis parallel to said diaphragm and. supported Within said casing, a. rigid ll yr pivoted intermediate of said rotor and diaphragm and adapted to swing torl and from Said diaphragm, said lever w haring one end thereof ada ted to d elivier blows to the center'of said iaphragm and having two spaced projections upon the face timreof away from said diaphragm and adapted to engage with said rotor, whereby said lever is oscillated and said `diaphragm is vibrated upon the'rotation of said rotor, a 1i pinion rigid with said rotor, means meshing with l said pinion and normally tendin to, rotate it, and means manually operable from the exterior of said casing for preventing orl permitting said rotation. y i

.Signed at Waltham in the county of Middlese'xy and State of Massachusetts this 6t day of DecemberyA. D. 1913.

p GEORGE A. PRooToR.

Witnesses: i

JOHN T. BURNS,` MAUnL. WTTHINGTON. 

